For the second time in his short yet promising professional career, Ruben Luna went a full 90
minutes for FC Dallas in Saturday's 3-2 win over Colorado. The last time the young striker went the
distance was on April 1, 2011 at Columbus. And by all accounts, Luna was solid against the Rapids,
displaying some of the same skills-like holding the ball, drawing cards and generally making life
difficult on the opposition, that everyone who has seen him play knows he can display at a moment's
notice.
Abby Wambach's Q-Rating in Japan is really quite remarkable. We think it has something to do with
not only her talent on the soccer field and how hard she competes, but also with the grace in which
she handled the immediate post-game interviews after falling in PKs in the World Cup Final, giving
much credit to the Japanese and their talented team.
Atletico Madrid moved up to 7th, Valencia were held at home by Levante, and Real Sociedad had an
impressive home victory in the Spanish Primera Division (La Liga) on April 1, 2012.
Results
Atletico Madrid 3-0 Getafe
Valencia 1-1 Levante
Real Sociedad 4-0 Rayo Vallecano
Villarreal 0-0 Espanyol
Impressive home wins by Atletico and Sociedad
Both Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad had very strong performances at home on Sunday.
The U.S. Women's National Team kicks off an exhibition tournament when it faces 2011 FIFA
Women's World Cup champion Japan to open the inaugural Women's Kirin Challenge Cup
at 5:30 a.m. CT Sunday, April 1, at Yurtec Stadium in Sendai, Japan. The U.S. then
faces Brazil in this three-team event at 7 a.
It seemed the spring finally hit Sendai today as the sun came out and the temps warmed up, so much
so that the many of the U.S. players had to peel off the layers during training. Perhaps some of
the snow on the ground here in northern Japan even melted?
The U.S. team will train inside Yurtec Stadium tomorrow, getting its first look at the game pitch
that will host the match on April 1.
The U.S. WNT played a closed-door training match against Japan today in Matsushima, about a
45-minute drive northeast of Sendai. U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage played all 23 players on the
roster with the Americans coming out on top 1-0 on a 84th minute goal from Tobin Heath.
Due to an agreement with the Japanese Football Association (JFA), there will be no highlights of
the match (it was a closed-door after all, which means, you know, it was closed to fans and media),
but you can watch the real thing on April 1 from Yurtec Stadium in Sendai on ESPN2 and ESPN3 at
6:30 a.
The U.S. WNT arrived into Tokyo in the late afternoon of March 25 and got a good night's sleep
before rising on March 26 for yet another travel day, this one north to Sendai. The U.S. team did
have some time to do some quick sight-seeing as the players spent about 90 minutes walking around
the Asakusa district, where the Sensoji Temple -- the oldest temple in Tokyo -- is located.
Night falls on Tokyo as the U.S. team boards the bus to the hotel
The U.S. WNT has arrived in Japan, a bit tired after a long travel day, but excited for two monster
matches at the beginning of April. Any time the U.S. team travels to the Asian continent, it's one
of the longest trips the team takes (unless you want to drop down to Australia, then that's some
hours on a plane, mate), but this trip to Japan came off without a hitch.
Alex Morgan scored a hat trick in the U.S. women's 4-0 victory over Sweden in Wednesday's
Third-Place match of the Algarve Cup.
Morgan's scored goals in the 4th, 33rd and 71st minutes, while Abbey Wambach tallied in the 37th
minute. Reserve keeper Nicole Barnhart kept the Swedes off the board by stopping the four shots
she faced on the day at Estadio Municipal in Parchal, Portugal.
Despite finishing in third place at the 2012 Algarve Cup in Portugal, a run that included a 1-0
loss to Japan, but convincing victories over Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the U.S. Women's National
Team remains the #1 team in the world in the just-released March 16 edition of the FIFA Women's
World Rankings.
Japan just has the U.S. women's national team's number at the moment.
In their first meeting since the dramatic World Cup final that Japan won in penalty kicks, Japan
topped the U.S. women 1-0 in the final group game of the Algarve Cup on Monday, preventing the
Americans from a place in the championship game for the first time in 10 years and dealing them
their first shutout in 58 matches.
The Revolution used its second overall pick to select former University of Rhode Island
midfielder Danleigh Borman from Toronto during Stage 1 of today's Re-entry Draft. Since Borman is
out of contract, the league will extend a Bona Fide offer to him to play for the Revolution.
Borman played in 21 games for the Reds and recorded three assists in 2011.
Major League Soccer's Re-Entry Draft is a quirky thing. There are a lot of rules and not every
player who has their option declined enters the draft. Rather than post the list of players
available along with the rules, I'm breaking it up to make it more digestible. Re-Entry Rules &
Timeline and Re-Entry Player Eligibility are after the break.
Dax McCarty is on the move yet again. (Getty Images)
Yes, this is indeed real. Dwayne De Rosario has been traded from the New York Red Bulls to D.C.
United in exchange for Dax McCarty.
Let that one sink in for a moment. DeRo for Dax. Straight up.
De Rosario began the 2011 MLS season with Toronto FC, registering one goal and one assist in two
matches before being dealt to the New York Red Bulls on April 1.
Two struggling Eastern Conference teams face off in Toronto when the Fire and TFC battle to turn
their early seasons around. In an effort to install his preferred system incorporating the Dutch
style of "total football" Aron Winter's side has looked disjointed, sloppy, and down right bad at
times through a 2-4-4 start.
Monday, December 5th, is the first stage of the MLS Re-Entry Draft. The entire process gets
fairly convoluted, as MLS is wont to do. As such, I figured I'll just copy/pasta their rules here
for you:
Any player selected in Stage 1 will remain on the drafting club's 2012 budget at the option
price or Bona Fide Offer price until April 1, 2012.
Tomorrow out at the Blue Valley District Athletic Complex, Sporting Kansas City continue their work
to qualify for the 2011 US Open Cup proper. The opponent tomorrow will be the New England
Revolution who made it here by defeating DC United 3-2 in their qualifier. Like KC, this game is
sandwiched between two games for New England.
Harry Redknapp is set to face trial for tax evasion on January 23rd alongside former Portsmouth FC
chairman Milan Mandaric. The first charge alleges that between April 1, 2002, and November 28,
2007, Mandaric paid $145,000 into a bank account ... Continue reading →
In what could take him out of the running for the England manager job, Tottenham Hotspur boss
Harry Redknapp will face trial for tax evasion next year.
Redknapp is accused of two counts of cheating the public revenue between specific dates in 2002
and 2007 when he was manager of Portsmouth Football Club.
We probably don't want to get our hopes up too high, but Steve Zakuani has been deemed "50-50"
as being able to play in Friday's Reserve League game against the Vancouver Whitecaps. This would
mark his first game action of any kind that Zakuani has done since appearing in a scrimmage against
Gonzaga back on April 1.
David Luiz took to Twitter today to make a pretty damn big announcement. That's right, the
Brazilian central defender has hacked off his signature curls.
Grenada vs Honduras 2011 Copa Oro ( CONCACAF Gold Cup) Final score:- Grenada vs Honduras 1-7 (
Murray/ Carlos Costly*3, Bengston, Martinez, Mejia) 9th June, 2011- Group B- FIU Stadium, Miami,
Florida Grenada are hammered 7-1 by Honduras in Group B at the FIU Stadium in Miami. Carlos Costly
scored a hat trick for Honduras [.
